I make Jack this vegan carrot cake each year on his birthday. Moist, warmly spiced & slathered with creamy vegan frosting, it's perfect for celebrations.

We have a carrot cake tradition around here. My mom makes one for Jack whenever she comes to visit, and I make one for Jack every year for his birthday. I don’t know when the “Jeanine gets cake” tradition will ever start, but I can’t complain because, really, we both get cake and we eat it too.

This year, I took some liberties with my mom’s recipe and made a fully vegan version – frosting and all. Instead of cream cheese (or tofu cream cheese), I made a cream cheese-like frosting using macadamia nuts, cashews, lemon juice, and Almond Breeze. And instead of powdered sugar, the frosting is sweetened with maple syrup.

I recommend making this frosting in a super high-speed blender in order to get it really creamy. If you don’t have one, you could always make coconut whip or cream cheese frosting using a regular mixer. Or if frosting is too fussy for you, this cake is super delicious on its own!

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the applesauce, almond milk, vanilla, sugar and oil.

Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients.

Fold in the carrots and stir until just combined.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting: combine all frosting ingredients into a high speed blender. Blend until very smooth for 1 to 2 minutes or more, scraping down the sides occasionally. You can add an extra tablespoon of almond milk if necessary to get your blade moving.

Chill for at least 30 minutes before spreading. (It will firm up a bit).

Store frosted cake in the fridge.

Notes

*Make sure your baking powder is fresh in order for the cake to rise (since there aren't eggs in the recipe). If your baking powder has been in the back of your pantry for too long it may be less effective.

**Soak your cashew and macadamia nuts for at least 3 to 4 hours, preferably overnight, then drain and rinse before using. I recommend using a very high speed blender (vitamix, blendtec, or similar) for this frosting.

This looks to-die-for! Carrot cake was always my favourite and I’ve had one incredible carrot cake since going vegan but haven’t been able to replicate it at home. Is this frosting tangy like cream cheese? That’s what I’m hoping!

You could sprinkle candied pineapple on top. My cake is now in the oven and it’s been in for about 40 minutes, still looking quite wet and oily. Fingers crossed it comes out nice, I had to give it a go when I read the recipe!

Debra

06.15.2017

I added 2-3 Tbsp of crushed pineapple and it was amazing….I kept everything as it was just added this….this recipe is our favorite. We eat it all the time….thank you for sharing it with us 🙂

This can happen when you open the oven during baking. Be careful to not open until you really think its done, then do so carefully and slowly not letting too much heat out at once, this way you can check your cake is ready.

Just tried this recipe and it is excellent! Beautiful texture, nice, complex taste. I added about 1/2 cup of chopped raw walnuts, 1/2 cup of chopped raisins, 1/2 tsp cardamom, and 1 tsp allspice to the cake. If I make another change next time I may knock back the sugar a couple of tablespoons or so. When I tasted the frosting I wanted a little bit more tang so I added another tsp of lemon juice.
I have really been wanting a good vegan carrot cake recipe. Thanks so much!

For my taste, no. I didn’t really notice it even being excessively sweet and certainly not sugary. Perhaps the extra spice help make it taste rich rather than extra sweet? Hard to say because I tried those variations the first time so I can’t reliably say what it would taste like without. I certainly wouldn’t consider this a sugary cake.

Hey guys, I made this frosting – like she says, MUST have a high-speed blender (IDK if the Bullet counts, but it finally smoothed out after 15-20min in there).

To get it tangier, I added Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.
I also messed around w/adding more lemon juice & powdered sugar.
And I interchanged coconut creamer for the almond milk (beggars can’t be choosers…).

My expectations, as with many vegan-izations, were set to low with this specific recipe. This was especially so when I decided to take a chance on a cultured cashew cheese product instead of making my own. (Hey, it had the lemon in it already and I had a bad experience with homemade cashew ice-cream one time.) Now, the macadamias I did do from scratch. Though, I did let them soak for twenty-four hours. Also, while on the topic of the is-this-going-to-taste-ANYTHING-like-cream-cheese-frosting, let me also mention that I used a bit more macadamias than the recipe called for. (Again, not a good experience with that cashew ice-cream.)

Okay, so, this carrot cake is my new favorite vegan conversion. Just fantastic.

I’ll probably use brown rice syrup next time in lieu of the granulated sugar (and a significant amount less—I don’t need my food as sweet).

This was AMAZING!!! I loved it. I made it as part of my gift for my two year anniversary with my boyfriend. He’s vegan as well and his favorite cake is carrot cake and he said this was the best carrot cake he’s ever had 🙂
The only substitution I used was Silk dairy-free plain yogurt instead of the coconut oil. I never use oil in my cooking since I’ve found dairy-free soy or coconut yogurt works just as well 🙂 It bakes the exact same. So for all the people trying to eat a lower-fat diet, I highly recommend dairy-free yogurt as a perfect substitute for oil, it tastes just as amazing! 🙂
It saves 1,090 calories and 133g of fat for the whole cake, or for one slice (1/8 of cake) 130 calories and 17g of fat.

I used only cashews instead of macadamia nuts for the frosting since they tend to have more healthy fats instead of saturated and just less fat in general. (One cup of macadamia has 84g but 1 cup of cashews has 45g) I also did not put lemons in it but otherwise made it the same way.
I did not make a low fat icing because my boyfriend has genetic (type 1) diabetes and really surgary but low fat icing is bad for him. Even with this icing, It only had about 6g of fat per slice though.

I also used the organic Truvia sugar baking blend instead of sugar because it has 75% less calories than sugar but tastes just as sweet and amazing 🙂 It also saves about 570 calories. It cooks the exact same too.

Hi Nahomy, depending on the size if your round pans, you might need two since a large rectangle pan is much larger than, say and 8×8 round pan. The time will depend on the size if your pan, no matter the shape.

We had a huge success with this cake! Used coconut sugar and it worked perfectly! We could not use the frosting due to nut allergies, but the frosting we made was amazing with the cake! Definitely a keeper!

Absolutely amazing recipe! Like literally amazing .I never had a carrot cake this good. It is super moist and flavorful. The spices compliment each other and the frosting is incredibly light and flavorful. Only recipe I use now.

How delicious looking! I had the best vegan carrot cake when I visited Seattle last year and have been dreaming about replicating it ever since, will definitely have to try out this recipe, looks fabulous.

That frosting looks divine, so creamy and delicious! And I’m always up for carrot cake ( have never tried a vegan version before, only gluten-free).
I really hope my food processor survives this because I want to try the frosting as soon as I get home! 🙂
What food processor do you have, or can you recommend a good one?
Thanks!

I use a Vitamix Blender for creamy frostings (like this), soups, and cashew-based sauces. I have a mini cuisinart that I use for pesto’s and other recipes that don’t have to be as smooth. Hope that helps!

I’d love to share this post on my blog in a post where I share my favorite recipe finds of the week. Would it be ok to grab a photo from this post (with link back to your post of course)? Just wanted to double check : )

Hi May, I really can’t say if bananas would work as a sugar replacement without trying it (they’re not the same consistency so it wouldn’t be an equal 1 to 1 swap). I don’t think it would work to leave all sugars out because it is a dessert, so it’s going to need some sweetness!

I wanted to ask if there is any way to modify this recipe for someone who is vegan and also allergic to gluten. I would love to make this as a surprise for a good friend of mine but she can’t go anywhere near gluten as she is highly sensitive. Thanks!

Sharon Weaver, you read my mind ha ha! I generally don’t comment until after I’ve tried the recipes. I will say that I have every intention of making this Fathers Day weekend and will be commenting after. I will say that everything I have made off of this blog has been nothing short of amazing!

Just made this this evening. It is delicious! The nicest carrot cake I’ve ever made 🙂 The frosting took a while but tastes lovely… My husband says it’s a little grainy but perhaps I didn’t blend it long enough. Does it ever get totally smooth? Thank you.

I made this cake tonight…and oh mee gee. It is the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian for that matter but I love experimenting. I’m at my folks for the weekend so I used their blender. (an Osterizer which they received as a wedding gift 38 years ago!) I was worried about how the frosting would turn out, but I was patient and blended for quite a while, and added a splash more almond milk and it turned out beautifully. I gave my dad a nice large slice without telling him it was vegan until after he finished…he really couldn’t believe it. He asked for 2nds! We are talking about a meat + potatoes / refined sugar kind of man here. I can’t rave enough about this recipe, I had to hold back from eating half the cake!

@ Mo, thanks for adding that you used an Osterizer blender. I was nervous about making it with my $30/older Oster blender. I might start it in the food processor and then transfer to the blender? If anyone has any other suggestions for a non-high powered blender let me know! I’ll post back later if it works out for me. This frosting just looks to yummy to not give it a try.

I ahve to admit i’m not an expert in baking, but i tried it, as it looked wonderful, but was a bit suspicious about the dry/wet ratio.. I put slightly more flour (like a couple of teaspoons of flour) as the mix looked really runny, but the cake was completely uncooked. It raised then collapsed, was burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. Are you guys sure that it only needs such little flour and so much liquids? Or could it be the wrong temperature? I put my fan assisted oven at 220, which is the max, you wrote it should be 325. So disappointing to throw it in the trash. Any idea what i did wrong? Thanks

I am going to make this for my boyfriend for his birthday! I don’t have a metal baking pan though…has anyone made it with a glass baking dish? If so, did you modify the recipe? I can try to find a baking pan from someone if necessary but I was just wondering if the glass dish would do. Thank you!

My frosting stayed pretty runny after refrigerating. I think next time I’ll reduce the almond milk. Do you have any other suggestions that might work? It still tasted amazing and my dad licked his plate clean. This recipe is amazing. Thanks!

Cake is absolutely amazing. Mine is actually pretty light- not fudgy like others have said. I found the frosting too runny also- used a thermomix and had only soaked nuts for 4 hours. Next time I won’t add any almond milk til it’s all blended as I wanted to add more lemon but didn’t want it to get any runnier!!!! Thanks so much this is an absolute winner of a recipe:))

Made this tonight and it was so delicious! Followed the recipe exactly and didn’t need to add a thing! I’m not into soaking things so I read that you can just boil the nuts for 15 min and that worked great! This is my first vegan recipe that actually tastes good! Thank you !

I’ve been looking for a vegan carrot cake with a traditional cream-cheesy frosting flavor, and I don’t use those disgusting (IMHO 😉 fake cream cheeses, so I’m very excited to try this recipe for a birthday celebration this week. One question though… I’ve always liked carrot cakes with nuts and raisins (one guy posted he added them with no other adjustments to recipe, do you agree?), AND crushed pineapple. Given that the pineapple is “wet”, do you have any suggested modifications I might need?

I made this recipe into cupcakes and they were amazing! My husband loves carrot cake and has high cholesterol. After 2 weeks of being very disciplined I thought I’d cheer him up with these. He loved them! I figured no eggs and no butter were one step in the right direction!

I made this cake yesterday for my housemates birthday, carrot cake is her favourite and since i am vegan i of course wanted a vegan version. Well, she said it was the best carrot cake she’s ever had! and our other housemates loved it too! it was so moist and tasty, it was just perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe, i will be making it again!

The nuts should ideally be raw, especially the cashews (so sorry I just noticed I didn’t specify that!). Soaking helps soften them so they’ll blend smoothly, so I wouldn’t skip that step or your frosting might be too gritty.

This looks amazing. Do you think I can use almonds in place of the macadamias, or would you suggest using all cashews instead? I have soaked almonds in my fridge right now and I quite like the taste of them so I’m wondering if that will work nicely as well?

I made this cake for my vegan friend’s birthday and EVERYONE (vegan/nonvegan) LOVED it. I followed the recipe to the tee for the cake, and then for the frosting I used all cashews and ended up omitting the coconut oil (because… well, I forgot that I didn’t have any and I didn’t have any alternatives). It actually still held up really well and was more of a thick glaze. Definitely tastes a bit like cream cheese with the lemon tangy-ness at the end. Lovely recipe – thank you!

Hello:) It looks amazing but I don’t have a high-speed blender and I really want to make This frosting:( Do you think if I soak the nuts three or more days it will be easier to my blender?:/ Thanks for your answer!:) I love your blog<3

I would soak for 24 hours (I don’t think beyond that is going to make it much better, also they might start to smell funky). I think some others have used a regular blender on this thread – just blend slowly and then blend a lot until it’s as smooth as you can get it.

Thanks for your answer:) I’m 14 years old and I’m from Hungary, but I really want a Vitamix one day:( It will be the best day in my life:) I was just wondering, that a hand mixer would not work, maybe?! Our blender is truly bad:( I love you:)

Ha 🙂 I’m afraid a hand mixer won’t work – the nuts really have to be blended well in order to become smooth and creamy. I’d try the coconut whip link that I pasted above, or regular cream cheese icing – both would work with a hand mixer.

I have whole wheat flour and all purpose flour on hand. I also have cornstarch so I could mix up some cake flour if need be. Would any of these work without changing the taste of the cake? If so, which one would work the best or what blend of flours would taste best?

Also, would unsweetened almond coconut milk work in both the cake and frosting? Is almond breeze sweet?

When you say grated carrots, what would be better…shredded carrots or carrots thrown in a food processor?

Finally! A Vegan frosting recipe that’s free of refined sugar and packed with healthy fats and protein! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’d like to find a replacement for the sugar in the cake itself- do you think dates or maple syrup might work here too?

Either would work – I always buy unrefined coconut oil (which tastes pretty coconut-y out of the jar), but I don’t really taste coconut in this recipe. Although I really like the flavor of coconut so if it bothers you probably use a a neutral one…

Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve been vegan for 15 years & have not found such a more delicious recipe than this; perfect texture & taste. My boyfriend who is new to the vegan life-style loved his birthday cake! Thanks again.

This recipe is amazing! I made this exactly as written and I am so in love! Thank you for sharing this with us! I will definitely be making it again….thinking for Easter….and after I can get some running miles in to counter the amount of this cake I have consumed! My sons non-veg friends came over (10 years old) and ate several squares of this and they loved the flavor! Huge hit! 🙂

Hi – just to say that I replaced the oil with 1/2 cup of shredded apple, and it came out great. It’s light and moist and it browned well. Although I did replace the flax eggs with boxed egg replacer – I don’t know whether that changes anything. (Great recipe by the way – my dad’s only complaint is that there wasn’t enough cinnamon, but he says that about all of my bakes!)

The carrot cake came out delicious. It was super moist and just smells really good. My roommates said it was really tasty. My only complaint is that the frosting is an acquired taste but after a while it taste like cream cheese. It could have done better with another frosting I feel.

Thank you for sharing! This was so, so yummy. As a non-baker, this is a recipe I would feel comfortable reaching for in a pinch.

I made some minor adjustments: cut cane sugar in cake batter to half (carrot = plenty of natural sweetness) and used almond milk, agave, and only cashews in the frosting. I didn’t have any lemon so used 2 tbsps of regular vinegar + 2 tbsps of crushed, frozen pineapple. The frosting came out velvety smooth, and its tartness balanced the sweet cake.

I used 2 cups spelt, 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour. It came out perfect for me: somewhat toothy but not super sense.

Just in case any other fellow noobs out there run into this problem: when I first mixed the melted coconut oil into the batter, it completely started to chunk up (separation from the almond milk, probably due to temperature difference? Or maybe it’s similar to water/oil??). Anyhoo, I had to melt it down in a double boiler before proceeding with remaining steps.

Hi Rae, I’m glad you liked it, thanks for sharing your substitutions, sounds delicious. Thanks for pointing out the coconut oil thing – in more recent recipes I try to make sure to specify almond milk at room temp so that doesn’t happen.

this recipe looks divine and i cannot wait to try it out tomorrow! i was just wondering, what could i sub the oil for. more applesauce or will the texture be off? pls lmk. im sure this will be heaven! (:

I’m making this for my husbands bday now and it’s been in the oven for over an hour and still is super dense/gooey. Not cakelike at all. I used a metal 9″ round. I’m leaving it in the oven with hopes it’ll cook more but I don’t think it will because it’s gooey even just under the top. Any suggestions?

Tried this recipe for my husbands birthday with cupcakes! It is awesome & everyone loved it!! I added 2 tbs of ground flax meal and 6 tbs of warm water (flax eggs) super moist! Thank you for this recipe and the frosting is genius. : )

I made this for a work gathering at 530 am this morning. I made it using a gluten free flour blend I whipped up, added walnuts and golden raisins and used lite coconut milk instead of almond. Iced with another recipe I have. Typing it out it seems like I made many modifications, but really this was nice base recipe for a DELICIOUS CARROT CAKE (first I’ve ever made). Very simple, straightforward, and it GOT RAVE REVIEWS!! One small slice left with my name on it (6 pm). Just making a cup of tea and then its gone. Will definitely make again.

Ok, so I just made this recipe, gluten free, for the second time in 3 days. I learned from first go round (which got rave reviews, but I knew it could it be better :)) and I am absolutely thrilled with the results.

Great recipe, awesome taste!
I’d bookmarked it for about a year until I finally tried the recipe for a friend’s birthday today – and it turned out well! Only the dough was a little too dense, I think that’s because of the smaller baking pan, and the frosting was nice but not great, maybe because I used cashews only. I’m curious to try again with macadamia nuts.

Anyways, I’m delighted it turned out so well though it was my first try!
Thanks from Dresden, GER! 🙂

This turned out well! I used a little less than half the sugar. So you know: it’s doable but tastes more like sweet bread and less like cake. Although with a sweet frosting it’s fine.
I also made this gluten free using a GF flour mix. I used coconut milk instead of almond. It was very dense, dry, and not extremely carrot-y. I don’t know if this is a result of the flour, the carrots being fresh and not pre-cooked, or the batter being quite thick (I probably should have added more fluids).

Hi!!! This recipe seems lovely, here in Brazil our carrot cake is different (it lacks the spices and nuts yours usually have, and we often use chocolate frosting instead of cream cheese), and I really want to try to do this one for my birthday, because it sounds really good!

I have a question, though: can I use soy milk instead of almond milk? Almond milk is not easy to find around here, and making my own would be a bit expensive. Do you think it would change drastically the taste/texture? Thank you!

I just wanted to say I made this recipe for my daughter’s first birthday. I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 unbleached all purpose flour. I also reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and used coconut sugar. I made coconut whipped topping. She LOVED it (and so did we).

Hi, my family is Lacto-vegetarian so I was wondering if I could just replace the Almond milk with dairy milk? Also, since I have all purpose flour on hand only, is it fine to use that in place of spelt and cake flour? Finally, can you replace the coconut oil with melted butter? Sorry for asking so many questions, I’m just worried all the substitutions might ruin what looks like a great carrot cake recipe.

This looks great! Can I use soy flour for this recipe? Its a good source of protein but when I tried to make pancakes with it they turned out a gloppy mess. If I can use soy flour, how much can I use & if I need to combine it with regular flour/whole wheat flour?

I’ve never used soy flour so I’d recommend searching for a recipe online that uses it specifically… I’m guessing if it didn’t work as a 1-1 swap for pancakes that it would make for a funny texture in this recipe.

Just made this into cupcakes, and they are out of this world. The vegan “cream cheese” frosting, is better than the real thing! I added more lemon to give it more tanginess as someone suggested above, and I licked the vitamix, spatula, and chilling bowl clean, lol.
Great recipe, thank you! The birthday boy and his colleagues will be thrilled!

I made this recipe today, but added agave syrup, 2/3 cup. And made the almond milk into ricemilk which was 3/4 cup ( because of the agave syrup). I made like little mini cakes and put them in for like 50 minutes .. (because all the time i check they weren’t done yet).
But still, the inside is really wet and undercooked .. Is it because i replaced the sugar or should it be wet.. ?

Hi!
Tomorrow Im baking this carrot cake recipe and Im super excited! I love it, its my favourite flavour and the best part its guilt-free! I was wondering if i could substitute the spelt flour for quinoa flour?

I haven’t had great experiences with quinoa flour – it’s very different from wheat-based flours so I don’t think it would be a great swap here. (I’d suggest finding recipes that specifically call for quinoa flour).

Ive just eaten almost the half of the cake! It is delicious and my family members think it too! I used 3/4 of quinoa flour, 2/3 of kiwicha flour and 2/3 of oatmeal and it did work! It took more time to bake (more less an hour intotal) but totally worth it!!!

Hi Renata – if you got extra cashews – you could double the cashews and skip the macadamia nuts (using the same total amount of nuts). I don’t think salted toasted ones will be sweet and soft enough for this frosting 🙁

THIS WAS AMAZING! I made the frosting in a food processor and although it didn’t come out as creamy as your picture it was still SUPER tasty. This was my first vegan cake and I will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing! :))

I’ve been craving carrot cake for months now but I’ve recently have become vegan so I was searching the internet for a solid recipe. I stumbled upon this one and I thought it was worth a shot. Let me tell you, BEST carrot cake I’ve had in my life. You cannot even tell it’s vegan–even my roommates couldn’t believe it.

I’m eating a slice as I speak. Fantastic recipe! I will definitely be looking at your other recipes in the future.

Hi Wyzenna, yes you can use cake flour and I think a few pecans would be delicious. I haven’t made this as a layer cake, but others’ in the comments have seemed to have had success. It’s a pretty moist, dense, cake that I usually make as a sheet cake. I would just make sure to check and adjust the baking time to account for the change in pan size. I hope that helps!

Thank you Jeanine! The frosting came out delicious! It really is like a cream cheese frosting but nuttier! :). I haven’t made the cake yet but will be making it tonight for my sons first birthday. I’ll be using a low GI sugar in place of regular cane sugar and hope it turns out well. Fingers crossed, toes too!

I made this cake tonight, and it was fantastic! I cooked it for 30 minutes and soaked the nuts overnight. The frosting was to die for, and the cake was rich and moist. This is going in my quiver of delicious desert cake recipes! Thanks whoever came up with the recipe!

I just finished making this cake sans frosting and it is soooo delicious you can’t even tell its vegan it’s so moist and rises so well. I added a 1/2 cup of walnuts to the top instead of frosting but this recipe is DEFINITLEY a winner!!

Hi! I’m getting ready to try out this recipe for a friend. I’ve haven’t baked with nuts very much before, so I just learned about the soaking nuts process. Do you recommend drying/dehyrdrating them in the oven after soaking/rinsing/draining them or can I go ahead and make the frosting immediately after soaking?

Hi Victoria, don’t dry or dehydrate – soak the raw cashews, then use a strainer or colander to drain and rinse them – then blend! Soaking helps them get creamier while you blend. If you’re using a vitamix (or similar), you can get away with less soaking time. If you’re using a less powerful blender, the longer the soak time (ie, overnight) the better. It’s important that the cashews are raw so that their flavor is neutral and the end result doesn’t end up tasting like cashews. Hope this helps!!

I MADE THIS!!
Here are the substitutions I did:
– 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose and 3/4 cups of whole wheat
– Didn’t have nutmeg, so I subbed 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (was afraid it might be too spicy, but probably would have been okay with another 1/4 tsp)
– Used a little over 1/2 cup of sugar for the cake
– Used half the amount of oil and added an additional 1/4 cup of applesauce
– Baked using a 9″ round pan (for a little over 40 minutes at 350)

– Subbed cashews for macadamias
– Used less coconut oil in the frosting

Overall I thought it was really good, even with my crazy substitutions. Not too sweet obviously, and it was still very moist aside from the top looking dry. My timing wasn’t very good on the frosting, so it didn’t have enough time to chill properly. I used a magic bullet and after a while it definitely got smooth. I thought the frosting still tasted amazing, especially with a good vanilla, but letting it get cold would have been even better.

One thing I was confused on was whether or not I should measure the cashews after they had soaked or while they were still raw. In the end I decided it didn’t matter and I just used what I had which was a little more than a cup after soaking. It was a really thin frosting but I’m guessing the chilling would have helped with that.

If I were to make this again I’d probably try using a carrot puree just to get more carrot into it. For the frosting I’d let it chill and also play around with trying to get it to be more tart.

This was a delicious cake and my non-vegan family loved it. I’m sorry I didn’t exactly follow the recipe, I’m sure the original was great too! Thanks for the post!

I measure the cashews before soaking, as you did. Chilling would definitely help, it thickens a bit in the fridge (also, I just like the way it tastes cold). If your blender blade can handle it, you could start with less almond milk and add more as needed for the blade to move. (The less liquid, the thicker it will be). Definitely add more lemon juice (or even lemon zest), to taste, to make it tangier…

I absolutely loved this recipe! You are a baking genius! I am not really a cake
person but this is soooooooooo good! This was by far the best cake I’ve ever had and deffinatly one of the best desserts in the world? I love the frosting it was sooo good! My non vegan family and friends loved it as well. I made this cake twice in one week and almost every one I served it to comment on how they liked the frosting better than the traditional cream cheese frosting for carrot cake. Also serval people asked for the recipe. The spicing is perfect as well as the nice moist texture? Overall thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I am so grateful to be able to share your creative work of art with my family. I loved this recipe sooooo much. It truly is to die for.

Hi Jennifer, I haven’t had success with oat flour in this recipe (it becomes too dense and crumbly), and I worry chickpea flour would also make it too dense. You might want to check out these carrot cookies which don’t use white flours and use maple syrup as a sweetener – they’re so good! http://www.loveandlemons.com/carrot-quinoa-oatmeal-breakfast-cookies/

I’m going to make this cake for my birthday cake this weekend. Has anyone made this cake into (2) 8″ rounds and used the frosting inside & out? My first, and novice-baker guess is to double the recipe, but I wonder if that will mean some will get discarded because it will be too much. macadamia nuts and cashews are expensive, I’d hate to see them go to waste.

Hi Meg, yep, you can make it the day before just be sure to store it in the fridge. It will last 3-4 days in the fridge, but it starts to look a little less pretty over time so I think making it 1 day before mother’s day is a great plan.

Hi Nina, that’s so weird, someone just wrote me say that their carrot cookies (another recipe) also turned green – I’ve made both recipes a gajillion times (and so have others) and this is the first I’m hearing about this green thing. When I googled it I found this helpful answer: http://www.thekitchn.com/food-science-when-good-carrots-52210 Maybe try reducing the baking soda by 1/4 teaspoon?

Super Delicious…I used oat flour and gluten free flour mix. I also thought I wanted a tangier frosting as well so I grated lemon rind in my frosting along with extra lemon juice. I also added toasted walnuts and raisins. The frosting was a first for me. I learned a lot from making this recipe.
I enjoyed making it…I really wanted it, so I worked for it! No one else who tasted it enjoyed it as much as I did!…and that’s why everything I bake is what I like! 🙂 Thank you for sharing a great recipe that people can tweak in so many ways to make their own and enjoy!

I just made this recipe for my birthday and I am vegan who has attempted many vegan cakes and this has been by far one of the best recipes that does not require odd ingredients such as egg replacements or anything like that! Loved it so much! I did not change a thing on the recipe and did it all accordingly, it turned out wonderfully and the frosting took no time at all! Can’t wait to buy your book very impressed! I have posted a photo of my creation on my Instagram page @thecranberryclub if you wish to check it out!
Much love x

Just wanted to contribute to all the good comments to confirm that this recipe is great! The cake rose really well, not a heavy cake at all, yet nice and moist. I even made cupcakes by reducing the cooking time to about 20 mins, and they were beautiful. Thanks!

This looks amazing and looks like it will be perfect for my dad who loves carrot cake but wants to be healthy (so nix on the cream cheese frosting!) I just wanted to know if if there is any way I can substitute the coconut oil in the frosting? Or if I can maybe leave it out? Will it effect the frosting badly?

I just made this yesterday… It’s already half gone. I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all-purpose flour and used a little more than a 1/2 cup of sugar and it is THE BOMB. I used 1/8 maple syrup in the frosting as well and I think that’s why I keep eating it, is because it is not overly sweet and more like a sweet bread/cake thing which is how I like it. It is incredibly dense and my non-vegan parents love it also! This is one of my favorite vegan desserts by far!

Made this cake for my vegan roommates birthday and it was a huge hit! Followed the cake recipe exactly other than adding in golden raisins. We loved the taste of the frosting although I soaked the nuts overnight so it was pretty runny. We just drizzled it over the slices of cake right before it was served and it was fine. My first time using soaked nuts, but won’t be my last! Great recipes!

Hi Claire – if you soaked your cashews, did you drain them well before adding to the blender? The cake is a little on the dense side, although you might want to make sure your baking powder is fresh, since this is vegan, it’s the only ingredient that helps the cake rise.

I just made this cake but had to add applesauce and water in order to be able to beat it. I measured the dry ingredients properly but the half cup of oil and other small liquid amounts were nowhere near enough to make a moist cake. With vegan company arriving, this is a dreadful recipe.

The cake part is excellent! I am not a huge fan of the frosting though. Not sure if it is the macadamia nuts or what. I like macadamia nuts, but the taste of the frosting was just a little off to me. Possibly an acquired taste. Any suggestions for another alternative to keep it vegan?

Non-Vegan review: This cake is yummy! I made it for my vegan daughter’s birthday. (She’s been craving carrot cake for sooo long.) I followed this recipe EXACTLY, and it was PERFECT! (I hate reviewers who alter recipes, then complain it’s bad…hmmm…wonder why?) The cake itself is really good (I might even add walnuts next time…but hold the raisins, bleh!) Without eggs, I was hesitant that it would be flat — but no, that’s not the case. The frosting doesn’t taste ‘nutty’ as you’d expect. Since I’m not a vegetarian/vegan: I think the cake would be really yummy with regular cream cheese frosting. 🙂

My two cents:
– I bought new baking powder, to make sure it was really fresh.
– A one-pound bag of baby carrots goes a looong way. I shredded the carrots fine shred, rather than the coarse shred.
– Even at room temp, the coconut oil/applesauce/milk mixture congealed. (My a/c’s too cold?) I zapped it in the microwave for a minute, and it was ok.
– I made the frosting in a VitaMix. Two minutes on high started to steam (Whoops! Forgot it can make hot soup. Choose the ‘smoothie’ setting.) I added the extra milk, which I wouldn’t do again, because the frosting was a bit runny.

I made cupcakes:
– I used a 1/4 c. (2″ diameter) cookie scoop for the batter.
– Baked at 350 for 22 minutes.

This cake is delicious!! My family loved it! They were asking me to make it again as they were finishing the last of it! I left out the apple sauce, only because I didn’t have any, and I doubled up on the cashews, again only because I didn’t have any macadamia nuts at home. I will be making this again that’s for sure! Thank you

I made this using Coconut Flour.
When it was all mixed, before I put it on the tray, it was very clumpy. Is that normal?
When it was done in the oven 50 min or so it came out very soft and pudding like.
I let it cool but it didn’t change the texture.
Is that normal?
It didn’t really look like carrot cake.
Did I do something wrong?

Hi! I wanted to make this for a Sunday potluck. I was wondering if I could make it on Saturday, frost it and just keep it in the fridge covered with plastic wrap? Also is it better eating it cold straight from the fridge or do you recommend taking it out 15 -20 minutes before eating? Lastly, I assume the coconut oil for the frosting is in its solid state? Thanks!

Hi Tanya, yes you can make it the day before and it’s great cold out of the fridge. The coconut oil can be hardened or melted, it’ll get soft anyway in the blender and it’ll firm up again once it chills in the fridge. Hope you like the cake!

Made this today for a birthday surprise for my vegan sister. I had a lot of help from her two grandsons ages 5 and 11 and their two friends. Everything went pretty well. Grated the carrots quickly in my high powered blender. Everything else was a piece of cake – ha!

My sister loved the cake, but with her two grandchildren helping …. She was gonna love it no matter what.

Me? I can’t say I’d make it again for me, but I’d happily make it for my sister again …. And probably will.

Absolutely delicious! I substituted the apple sauce with fresh home made pineapple sauce (forgot to buy apples!) and also added sultanas, seeds and chopped nuts to the sponge recipe. It was wonderful…Thank you 🙂

I made this yesterday and was a little disappointed. Carrot cake used to be my favourite dessert before becoming vegan, so I should mention that I have pretty high standards when it comes to this dessert.

The classic (non-vegan) carrot cakes that I’m used to are based on the “cream method” (i.e. cream sugar into butter first) as opposed to the “quick bread method” featured here (read more here: http://www.veganbaking.net/articles/guides/how-to-veganize-a-cake-recipe). As a result, I found this carrot cake lacking the rich buttery flavour I love. Also, the texture was too spongy (for lack of a better word), as opposed to being tender, dense, and moist.

Overall, I enjoyed it and was very appreciative for the veganized recipe, but I think it needs some work. Maybe a vegan carrot cake using the cream method with Earth Balance would be better?

Hi Seth – thank you for your comments. This cake is definitely more of a quick bread, it’s how my mom made it growing up so it’s the texture, etc, that I like. I hope you find a recipe that suits your taste!

This carrot cake is the absolute bomb and I have made it tens of times already. I am eating whole-grain plant-based with no oil, so I made a few changes to your recipe, but believe me, the cake came out no worse for the wear. I used half splelt and half whole wheat flour and I added only 2 tsps of coconut oil(instead of 1/2 cup), 1/4 cup of sugar and a 1/4 cup of maple syrup(instead of 1 cup of sugar) , and a cup of raisins and a cup of chopped walnuts. Once baked, I could taste the baking powder in the cake, so now I add only 1 tsp baking powder(instead of 3) and 11/2 tsp baking soda(instead of 1) and 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar to the almond milk. I love that there are two packed cups of shredded carrots in the recipe. I also learned that a 30 minute bake at 350 produced a moist and ever-so-delicious carrot cake. More time would tend to make it slightly drier. This last time I made it, I wanted to get rid of the sugar entirely so I added 1/4 cup of date slurry(made by processing 1/4 dates with 1/4 cup boiling water) instead of the 1/4 cup sugar and the cake came out fabulous. I used Kite Hill cream cheese(It’s made from almonds) with 2 Tbsp maple syrup processed in the blender for the frosting. I will try your frosting sometime soon. I live far away from a Whole Foods and Whole Foods is the only store that sells Kite Hill products. Thank you so much for this incredible recipe!

I made this cake as a 2 tier birthday cake and is turned out great!! Was so delicious and got lots of compliment! I made some changes…. reduced a sugar to 3/4 cup, used only a pinch of salt and used sunflower oil. I wanted to make sure that it will rise nicely so used half almond milk and half aquafaba /chickpea water/, half all purpose flour and half self-raising flour. I rarely leave comments but so thankful for this recipe… it’s a winner! Thanks so much.

Hi, I made this cake with soya milk instead of almond, and white sugar instead of cane sugar, and it was great! Thank you!

I didn’t make any frosting and kept the cake in the fridge, and from the second day onwards it was slightly sticky. It still looked and tasted great, but when cutting into it or eating it it was definitely sticky – can’t describe it any other way, sorry!

I want to make it for my mum this week so I would be grateful for any tips please 🙂

I wanted to make a carrot cake for my family for easter and this recipe sounds delicious, but I was thinking of a traditional round, layered cake. Is the frosting thick enough to hold a layer of cake??
I couldn’t possibly read through all the comments, so my apologies if the question was answered above.

I personally haven’t tried this recipe as a layer cake – this cake is really moist/dense, I’m not sure it would hold up to layers like a lighter cake might. About 3 comments up, a reader had some success with layers but made a few modifications. I’m not sure if she used the frosting recipe as-is.

The frosting is thick but it’s not as stiff as regular butter cream or cream cheese icing. Also, I’m not sure there would be enough to cover the sides, middle, and top.

I’ve recently adapted a plant based diet and this was the first attempt at making a vegan cake. My husband is going along the ride with me and mentioned there was carrot cake in his break room at work that looked good but he avoided it. As a kind gesture, I decided to surprise him for Easter and make him a vegan carrot cake which he enjoyed. After making the fabulous corn chowder on the site, I had high hopes this recipe would produce something tasty. I was pleased with the results as a healthy substitute for the “real thing”. I chose to not use sugar, rather I used home made almond milk and blended 3 dates in with the almond milk to add some sweetness. Along with the prescribed amount of applesauce, I also crushed in my blender about a 1/4 cup of fresh pineapple, and used 1/2 cup of raisins and a 1/4 cup of maple syrup in place of the 1 cup of sugar. I used a half cup of walnuts, and also chose to only use 2 Tbls. of coconut oil to reduce the oil content of the recipe. I also used only 1 Tbls, of oil in the frosting. The result was good but my cake did bake faster than the 30 minute time, mine was done at the 24 minute mark but I left it in for 30 minutes and may have dried it out a touch but it was still good. The frosting does do a great job of satisfying the cream cheese flavor although my vitamix blender jar has a wide bottom and the ingredients could not fully whip up into a creamy texture. I still had sand like bits of nuts which would not smooth out because there was not enough volume in the blender to whip the ingredients into a very smooth texture. Next time I will use a hand immersion blender and see if that will work better. I miss my narrow based vitamix jar! I lined my glass baking dish with parchment paper so the cake would not stick and clean up was a breeze. I would definitely make this again.

I made this yesterday for my birthday and followed the recipe with just a few adjustments:
– added chopped walnuts, because walnuts
– since they don’t sell unsalted macadamia nuts here, I only used cashews
– and used agave instead of maple syrup

It came out so soooo good, literally the best (vegan) thing I’ve ever baked! The cake refrigerates well too. Definitely a keeper in my go-to recipes!

This is great! Before i turned vegan (a month ago) i always made great carrot cake with animal products, so i was hoping to find a half decent vegan recepe. Turns out, this vegan version is better than what i used to bake!! My friends now require me to bake this carrot cake every time they come visit. Thanks again…. 😛

Thank you so much for this recipe, Jeanine. I found it really easy to make and honestly think it tastes sooo much better than the diary alternative! The “cream cheese” is so close to the real thing it’s crazy.

Do you think it would be ok if I froze what I can’t eat? And when I’m ready, to let it just if thaw on the counter for a couple hours?

Hi Robin, I don’t see the circles you’re referring to. I’m so sorry, maybe it’s a difference between internet browsers? If you email me a screenshot (jd@loveandlemons.com), I can possibly troubleshoot what you’re seeing!

This looks lovely. Thank you! I’m wondering if it’s possible to leave out the sugar and use stevia instead (or dried fruit). Could you please give me some advice on if I need to adjust the flour or another ingredient’s measurements?

Hi Polly, I’m not sure that would work – Stevia isn’t an exact replacement for sugar in baking so it would likely throw off the texture. I think some readers have cut the sugar in half with good results but I haven’t personally tried.

I made this cake and the only I ingredient I was missing was applesauce, so I decided to make it without and instead put a tablespoon of water in. It turned out fantastic!! I also added a little more lemon to the frosting 🙂

This looks amazing. I will be making this on the weekend to share with our non-vegan family.
A couple of questions….
1) Should I melt the coconut oil before making the frosting or does it matter?
2) What is sprinkled/crumbled over top in the picture?

Hi, I made your Vegan carrot cake with frosting 3 times in 3 weeks already ; it’s a real hit with everyone! For me, the cake is not pleasant to eat straight from the fridge as it is dense and wet.. so I was wondering what would happen if I do not refrigerate it at all, would the frosting go bad or sour? Thanks in advance for your reply 🙂

Hi Christina – I’m so glad everyone likes the cake! If you’re eating it within a day or so, I think it would be fine to not put in the fridge. Otherwise, I think the frosting will get watery at room temp. You could leave the cake out separate from the frosting if you like?

Hi Jeanine, that’s a great idea to keep the cake and frosting separate.. which is exactly what I will do next time I make it for me 🙂
This week I made it for my friend at work and everyone loved it so much they said that they prefer it than a traditional butter & cream version and now they all want it for their upcoming birthdays! 🙂

I made it yesterday and took 1/2 amount of each ingredient, so it was a small cake but OMG was it tasty and eaten in an instant, so full size next time 🙂 I added some raisins soaked in liquour because that’s the way we like

Hi there! I just wanted to let you know how much I ADORE this recipe –– I’ve already made it three times this fall! In fact, I loved it so much I decided to feature it in my recent roundup of recipes using seasonal October produce.

If you think your followers would enjoy reading it, I’d love if you’d give the article a share. Just trying to spread the goodness that is seasonal eating. Thanks again for all you create!

I made this for a party and PEOPLE LOVED IT. The thing with baking is that I cannot taste the final product until the event itself, so it is also a surprise for me. And boy was I amazed! I felt like a dweeb praising the cake I brought myself, but ultimately it’s the recipe’s success so THANK YOU! 🙂 It’s super simple to make so this is definitely my go-to recipe from now on. I used a coconut cream frosting though, and it works very well!

The cake looks delicious and I’d like to give it a try, but I’m a bit confused as far as the conversion of cups to grams is concerned (I only use grams in recipes and always convert cups to grams). For example, a cup of all purpose flour equals to 125 grams, whereas a cup of spelt flour equals to little over 100 grams -so how come 2 1/4 cups of both equal to 256 grams????

I did have some trouble whilst baking it – one area of the cake was just not cooking through. Probably baked it for an hour all up. Areas that were already cooked began to burn so I covered the cake with foil. This helped cook it through but made it moist and dense – a little doughy too. However it is delicious nevertheless and texture is similar to store bought banana bread.

I didn’t have any apple sauce on me so I peeled and blitzed one apple with a dash of water in my blender. Perhaps made the cake mixture too runny, hence my baking issue. Not sure.

I made the frosting with one cup of cashews and almonds and it tastes delicious – just like cream cheese. I’m amazed! Will definitely make this again.

This was a hit with my omni family! I made the cake as called for but replaced 1/4 cup of the water for pineapple juice, and added 3 tbsp crushed pineapple and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. I ended up using a vegan frosting from the grocery store and made the batter into mini cupcakes (baked for 18 minutes). Next time I’ll make the frosting from this recipe.

YUM! Just made this cake last night and as a self proclaimed carrot cake aficionado, I give this 10/10. I used half spelt flour, a quarter almond flour, and a quarter oat flour. I also added in 3 flax eggs. I used half the recommended coconut oil and substituted the other half for coconut yogurt. I also used coconut sugar in place of cane sugar. I was hoping this cake wouldn’t be as dense and moist as other recipes I’ve tried, and it wasn’t! I also added walnuts and raisins to taste. For the frosting I reduced the lemon juice and added some lemon zest.

Hi! i just tried the receipe and the texture is perfect,definitely will go to my favorites receipes. The only thing i noticed is that it didn’t have so many carrot taste, like it was subtle, in that case should i use more carrot? thank you so much! i discovered this website recently so i’ll be trying out a few more!
cheers from Argentina!

This recipe is an absolute winner!
(I made it using ‘healthy baker low fodmap flour’ wheat flour with no issues)
I can’t eat apple sauce, so followed the advice of one of the other commenters and left it out and just added ~1T water instead. The oil I used was sunflower oil and the milk I used was rice milk.
Next time I will bake it as cupcakes and add some chopped walnuts in 🙂

The cake recipe is great. I made cupcakes, using 1/4cup batter per cupcake. The recipe yielded 20 cupcakes. Against popular vote, the frosting was hideous. It tasted like sweet and sour cashew butter. Didn’t taste like cream cheese or any type of frosting at all. I tried saving it, but it died a slow death and was put to rest in the garbage. Thanks for the great cake recipe, but I’ll keep looking for a vegan cream cheese recipe that doesn’t make my eyes water.

Hi Holly, I’m glad you enjoyed the cake and I’m sorry you didn’t like the frosting. I’m wondering if you used raw unsalted cashews (roasted cashews have a more prominent cashew taste). Either way, I recently posted a more traditional vegan cream cheese frosting here that you might prefer: https://www.loveandlemons.com/vegan-pumpkin-snack-cake/ Thank you for your feedback.

With the icing – we have a cashew allergy in the family and can’t use them – would all macadamias work? Or do you have another suggestion as I really want to make this but my son is allergic (anaphylactic) to cashew, pistachios, walnut, pecan & sesame.

Check out this recipe – there’s a frosting recipe uses vegan cream cheese (regular cream cheese would also work). I think there are some vegan cream cheeses on the market that don’t contain nuts that would would work with this one: https://www.loveandlemons.com/vegan-pumpkin-snack-cake/

Hi Jeanine,
I really want to try this recipe and bought already all the ingredients but the only blender I currently have is the Ninja professional 900watts. Do you think this would be enough or do you have a vegan alternative for the icing? Really wanted it to have some nuts 🙂
Any suggestions?
Thank you so much!
Sara

Hi Jeanine,
Thank you so much for your replies.
The cream cheese I have at home is the Koko? Would you say this will go well in that cream cheese recipe you send me or would I be better of trying the macadamia recipe in my blender?
Would love your opinion as not entirely which one is more likely to go “wrong”.

Hi Sara, I haven’t tried that brand specifically, but I’ve tried multiple vegan cream cheeses and they all seem to have similar textures, so I think it will be fine. I think that route might be the safest if you’re unsure about your blender.

Ann clement

11.21.2018

Great recipe. Accidentally added 1/4 cup maple syrup to the batter so reduced the almond milk by 1/4 cup. Came out great anyway. Nice texture and tastey.

Hey there, your link for the cream cheese frosting isn’t working I don’t know why I was able to see the “option 1” and “option 2” for the frostings earlier but now I can only see the one using nuts. Thanks!

I’ve made this cake multiple times with the cup measurements and it’s been absolutely perfect but I tried the same recipe but use the gram measurements (I’m from the UK) and it was an absolute fail so I think there might be something off about the conversion? Very very dense and didnt seem as though there was enough flour in it.

Something about vegan food make it seem thrice as good! The color, the taste, the texture, and everything about a healthy carrot cake make the cake stand out. It’s even a ketogenic diet friendly recipe! Have you heard of ketogenic vegans? They sound like a happy healthy lifestyle, don’t they? This would be a great recipe for those wanting to start that keto-vegan diet.

I made this for my husbands birthday. It was super easy to make and a hit with everyone. I added golden raisins to the batter. My adult son who normally doesn’t eat cake and doesn’t have a sweet tooth requested this cake for his birthday. This will be my go to cake for birthdays and functions.

This is an AWESOME recipe. I followed the cake recipe exactly, except I used whole wheat flour. For the icing, I made a few adjustments by adding 2 tbsp of cane sugar and 2 tbsp of corn starch. I was having a hard time getting it to form some consistency, but then I realized I was doing it wrong. I used crushed up almonds and cashews. I did not soak them, just crushed them. I decided to use it as a pour over sauce. It was actually delicious. It was super yummy and a breath of fresh air as I am a new vegan and did want to miss out on a nice piece of cake. My family loved it, and did not believe it was Vegan. It held together nicely without any egg at all. Thinking about making it for Thanksgiving. Thank you for this recipe.

I have to comment on this recipe because it is so fantastic! I halved the recipe and only used cashews for the frosting because that’s what I had. I soaked the cashews in hot water for 30 minutes and used a regular blender (just blended it a bit longer to make sure it had a smooth consistency). Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect! The frosting really does taste pretty close to a true cream cheese frosting. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be making it again!

That was so good! I added a splash more lemon juice to the icing as the maple syrup was a bit dominant and ended up with a gorgeous cake, thanks so much.

A question: we need to travel for a couple of hours to a summer wedding and take vegan cake. If we refrigerated it well beforehand, would the icing survive the journey if the temperature is 60-70 Fahrenheit?

Hi there! I’m wondering if I can make two 9 inch round cakes with this recipe? I want to make this for my bday coming up in a couple of days. And will the frosting be enough for a two tiered cake? Thanks so much! Hope to hear from you!

Does anyone know how I can use this recipe to make cupcakes? I’d like to make them for Easter at my usual family gathering! I’m just not quite sure if I’d need to adjust the recipe or baking time any. Please let me know!

I doubled this and made some alterations:
I used oat flour and AP flour 3 to 1
I added a cup of soaked raisins
I usef half brown sugar, half white
I did my own spice mixture
I reduced the oil by half and added half to the applesauce
Great recipe to help me get started, thank you!

I’m excited to try out this recipe for my (vegan) mother-in-law’s birthday. I don’t have macadamia nuts on hand. Can I substitute hazelnuts? Or is doubling the amount of cashews (ie. only using cashews) a better idea? Thanks for the recipe and input!

I loved it!!! I made a couple of changes to the recipe… I used only half of cup of cane sugar, I added a little of orange zest and some of the orange juice. And finally I added raisins. It came out FABULOUS!!! Thank you so much for sharing it 🥰🙌🏻
SV.